ACCOMMODATION
The trail guide (Part 5) lists a fairly comprehensive selection of places to stay along the length of the trail. You have three main options: camping, staying in hostels/bunkhouses, or using B&Bs/hotels.
Few people stick to just one of these options the whole way, preferring, for example, to camp most of the time but spend every third night in a hostel, or perhaps use hostels where possible but splash out on a B&B every once in a while.
Note that when booking accommodation, remember to ask if a pick-up and drop-off service is available (usually only B&Bs provide this service). Few of the B&Bs actually lie on the Wall, and at the end of a tiring day it’s nice to know a lift is available to take you to your accommodation rather than having to traipse another five kilometres off the path to get to your bed for the night.
The facilities’ table on pp36-7 provides a quick snapshot of what type of accommodation is available in each of the towns and villages along the way, while the tables on p39 provide some suggested itineraries. The following is a brief introduction to what to expect from each type of accommodation.
Camping
There are campsites all the way along the Hadrian’s Wall Path, though few people choose to camp every night on the trail. You’re almost bound to get at least one night where the rain falls relentlessly, soaking equipment and sapping morale, and it is then that most campers opt to spend the next night drying out in a hostel or B&B.
There are, however, many advantages with camping. It’s more economical, for a start, with most campsites charging somewhere around £5. There’s rarely any need to book either, except possibly in the very high season, and even then you’d be very unlucky not to find somewhere.
Campsites vary; some are just the back gardens of B&Bs or pubs; others are full-blown caravan sites with a few spaces put aside for tents. Showers are usually available, occasionally for a fee though more often than not for free. Note that none of the youth hostels on the Hadrian’s Wall Path accepts campers.
Note, too, that wild camping (ie not in a regular campsite) is not allowed.
Camping is not an easy option; the route is wearying enough without carrying your accommodation around with you. Should you decide to camp, therefore, we advise you to look into employing one of the baggage-carrying companies mentioned on pp29-30, though this does, of course, mean that it will cost more and that you will lose a certain amount of freedom as you have to tell the company, at least a day before, of your next destination – and stick to it – so that you and your bag can be reunited every evening.
Bunkhouses
The term ‘bunkhouse’ can mean many different things, though usually it’s nothing more than a converted barn in a farmer’s field with a couple of wooden benches to sleep on. Sleeping bags are usually necessary in these places.
While not exactly the lap of luxury, a night in a bunkhouse is probably the nearest non-campers will get to sleeping outside, while at the same time providing campers with shelter from the elements should the weather look like taking a turn for the worse.
Some of the better bunkhouses, especially those maintained by the YHA, provide a shower and simple kitchen with running water and perhaps a kettle, and occasionally pots, pans, cutlery and crockery.
Hostels
Youth hostels are plentiful along the Hadrian’s Wall Path and if you haven’t visited one recently because the words ‘youth’ and ‘hostel’ still conjure up images of cold, crowded dorms, uncomfortable beds and lousy food all overseen by little-Hitler staff who take a sadistic pleasure in treating you like schoolchildren, we advise you to take a second look.
The YHA (Youth Hostel Association) has, in fact, got some of the best-value accommodation on the route. Each hostel comes equipped with a whole range of facilities from drying rooms to televisions and fully equipped kitchens for guests to use.
Many also have a shop selling emergency groceries, snacks and souvenirs and some are even connected to the internet. All offer breakfast and/or dinner, some offer a packed lunch, and a couple even have a licence to sell alcohol. They are also good places to meet fellow walkers, swap stories and compare blisters.
Weighed against these advantages is the fact that beds are still arranged in dormitories, some of them quite large, thereby increasing your chances of sharing the night with a heavy snorer. The curfew (usually 11pm) is annoying too.
A couple of the hostels also suffer from a shortfall in adequate washing facilities, with only one or two showers to be shared between 15 or 20 people. Nor is it really feasible to stay in hostels every night, for there are some areas where hostels don’t exist and where they do some are at least a mile or two from the path.
If you are travelling in April/May or September, at the beginning or end of the trekking season, you may find many shut for two or three days per week, or entirely taken over by school groups, leaving trekkers shut out. Look at the YHA’s Members Guide, or visit their website, to find out the exact opening dates of each of the hostels.
Even in high season most are not staffed during the day and trekkers have to wait until 5pm before checking in. Furthermore, it is rumoured that most youth hostels will save your booked bed only until 6pm, though to be fair, I never came across this rule on the route and if it does exist it doesn’t seem to be rigidly enforced.
And besides, they will keep it until later if you phone to let them know when you’re due to arrive. Finally, the cost of staying in a hostel, once breakfast has been added on, is in most instances not that much cheaper (around £14-18 for members) than staying in a B&B.
Booking a hostel Despite the name, anybody of any age can join the YHA. This can be done at any hostel or by contacting the Youth Hostels Association of England and Wales (tel 01629-592700, web www.yha.org.uk).
The cost of a year’s membership is £15.95 per year (£9.95 for anyone under 26). Having secured your membership, youth hostels are easy to book, either online or by ringing each individual hostel separately. The hostels also offer a booking service and will reserve your bed at the next stop on the path for you.
Bed and breakfast
Bed and Breakfasts (B&Bs) are a great British institution and many of those along the Hadrian’s Wall Path are absolutely charming, with buildings often three or four hundred years old, and some even made with Wall stones!
There’s nothing mysterious about a B&B; as the name suggests, they provide you with a bed in a private room and a cooked breakfast (see p26) – unless you specify otherwise beforehand – though they range in style enormously.
Most B&Bs have both en suite rooms and those with shared facilities, though even with the latter the bathroom is never more than a few feet away. These rooms usually contain either a double bed (known as a double room), or two single beds (known as a twin room).
Family rooms are for three or more people. Solo trekkers should take note: single rooms are not so easy to find and solo trekkers will often end up occupying a double room, for which they’ll have to pay a single supplement.
An evening meal (usually around £12) is often provided at the bigger places, at least if you book in advance. If not, there’s nearly always a pub or restaurant nearby or, if it’s far, the B&B owner may give you a lift to and from the nearest place with food.
B&B prices B&Bs in this guide start at around £18 per person for the most basic accommodation rising to over £35 for the most luxurious en suite places. Most charge around £23-25 per person. A typical single supplement is £5-15.
Guesthouses, hotels, pubs and inns
The difference between a B&B and a guesthouse is minimal, though some of the better guesthouses are more like hotels, offering evening meals and a lounge for guests.
Pubs and inns also offer bed and breakfast accommodation and prices are no more than in a regular B&B. Hotels usually do cost more, however, and some might be a little incensed with a bunch of smelly trekkers turning up and treading mud into their carpet.
Most on the Hadrian’s Wall Path, however, are used to seeing trekkers and welcome them warmly. Prices in hotels start at around £25-30 per person.
WHEN TO GO
SEASONS
Britain is a notoriously wet country and the north of England is an infamously damp part of it. Few trekkers manage to complete the walk without suffering at least one downpour; two or three per trek are more likely, even in summer.
That said, it’s equally unlikely that you’ll spend a week in the area and not see any sun at all, and even the most cynical of trekkers will have to admit that, during the trekking season at least, there are more sunny days than showery ones.
The trekking season, by the way, starts at Easter and builds to a crescendo in August, before steadily tailing off in September. By September’s end, few indeed are the trekkers who attempt the whole trail, although there are plenty of people on day walks, and in October many places close down for the winter.
Unusually, the authorities in charge of maintaining the path request that walkers do not attempt the trail in winter (which they define as October to April), when the path is at its most fragile; they do not, however, rule out walking in Wall country altogether.
There are two further points to consider when booking your trip. Firstly, remember that most people set off on the trail at a weekend. This means that you’ll find the trail quieter during the week and as a consequence you may find it easier to book accommodation.
Secondly, towards the western end of the walk, the trail through the Solway Marshes is prone to flooding. While this won’t affect when you set off (at least, not if you are starting at the eastern end of it), you do need to be aware of the time of the high tides and plan your walk through the marshes so that you are not there during high tide.
Spring
Find a dry week in springtime (around the end of March to mid-June) and you’re in for a treat. The wild flowers are coming into bloom, lambs are skipping in the meadows, the grass is green and lush, and the path is not yet badly eroded.
Of course, finding a dry week in spring is not easy but occasionally there’s a mini-heatwave during this season. Another advantage with walking at this time is that trekkers will be few and finding accommodation relatively easy, though do check that the hostels/B&Bs have opened. Easter is the exception; the first major holiday in the year when people flock to the Wall.
Summer
Summer, on the other hand, can be a bit too busy and over a weekend in August can be little short of insufferable. Still, the chances of a prolonged period of sunshine are of course higher at this time of year than any other, the days are much longer, all the facilities and public transport are operating and the heather is in bloom, turning some of the hills around the crags a fragrant purple.
Our advice is this: if you’re flexible and want to avoid seeing too many people on the trail, avoid the school holidays, which basically means ruling out the tail end of July, all of August and the first few days of September.
Alternatively, if you crave the company of other trekkers summer will provide you with the opportunity of meeting plenty of them, though do remember that you must book your accommodation in advance, especially if staying in B&Bs.
Despite the higher than average chance of sunshine, take clothes for any eventuality – it will probably still rain at some point.
Autumn
September is a wonderful time to trek, when many of the tourists have returned home and the path is clear. I think that the weather is usually reliably sunny too, at least at the beginning of September, though I’ll admit I don’t have any figures to back this claim.
The B&Bs and hostels will still be open, at least until the end of the month. By then the weather will begin to get a little wilder and the nights will start to draw in. The trekking season is almost at an end.
Winter
The National Trail officers would prefer you not to walk the trail during winter, to give the path a rest and prevent damage. It is also a little more dangerous to trek at this time, with few people around, a cold climate and a slippery trail.
But while we advise against walking the actual trail, there is nothing to stop you trying one of the circular winter trails near the Wall. There’s a ‘Winter Days Out’ leaflet with suggestions for walks you can take in Wall country that don’t actually encroach on the main trail and any unexcavated archaeological treasures.
RAINFALL
At some point on your walk it will rain; if it doesn’t, it’s fair to say that you haven’t really lived the full Hadrian’s Wall experience properly. The question, therefore, is not whether you will be rained on but how often. As long as you dress accordingly and take note of the safety advice given on pp59-61, this shouldn’t be a problem.
DAYLIGHT HOURS
If walking in autumn or early spring (we’re assuming you’re not going to walk in winter), you must take account of how far you can walk in the available light.
It won’t be possible to cover as many miles as you would in summer. Remember, too, that you will get a further 30-45 minutes of usable light before sunrise and after sunset depending on the weather.
In June, because the path is in the far north of England, those coming from the south may be surprised that there’s enough available light for trekking until at least 10pm.
Conversely, in winter you will be equally amazed how quickly the nights draw in. Bear this in mind if walking outside the summer season.
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